Promise
by Anonymous033
Summary: The day Ziva finds out about Ray's betrayal of her, Tony is of course the one to comfort her. Tony/Ziva, but Tiva only on Tony's side.


**Summary: The day Ziva finds out about Ray's betrayal of her, Tony is of course the one to comfort her.**

**Disclaimer: I'm eating fried bananas. They actually taste pretty good. I'm not sharing them with Bellisario, since he won't let me own NCIS.**

**Spoilers: Mention of Ari and Michael, general season 8, major season finale "Pyramid".**

**Warnings: Okay, those of you who thought Pyramid-Ziva was OOC might er, have issues with this fic. Nonetheless, it's in canon, and I've written Ziva as she was portrayed. So um, I hope you don't mind?**

**As always, please enjoy, and review!**

**-_Soph_**

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><p><strong>Promise<strong>

The moment her chair flies back and hits the divider he knows something is wrong; she stands up and slams her fists into the table and storms out of the bullpen. He debates running after her and decides that she probably needs some time to cool down.

It is a surprise to him, therefore, when he enters the men's room five minutes later and finds her standing in the middle of it, snarling into the phone in Hebrew. She hangs up and throws the phone across the room; it hits the mirror with a sharp crack and drops into a basin. He stares and she looks at him viciously.

"What?" she growls.

"This is the men's room," he reminds her as gently as he can. There is no telling what she will do to him in this state.

She snorts derisively. "Like that has bothered you before?"

"Ziva, what's wrong?" he asks her quietly.

"Nothing!"

"What's wrong?"

She starts to swear at him in Hebrew, and he is almost intimidated. _Almost. _Nothing on Earth could ever induce him to walk away from her when she clearly needs comfort.

So he moves forward, slowly, carefully; gives her enough time to back away. She does not, though, and only stands there yelling at him until he has caught her by the shoulders. And all at once she switches to English.

"Ray is working for my father," she spits out, not looking at him anymore. "His mission is in Israel. I had to find that out from a contact. I had to find out that _my boyfriend and my father _are working together from a contact. Of course! When have they ever been honest with me? I hope you are happy, Tony. You have your wish! My boyfriend is a bad man, after all."

She grins humourlessly at him, and it is in such contrast to the pain in her eyes that the image is almost grotesque.

"Ziva, I never wished for your boyfriend to be a bad man," he tells her solemnly, and just like that she stops grinning. Now there is just pain; in her eyes, in the set of her chin, in her shoulders, in her aura. Her entire person is exuding pain, and it simply breaks his heart. He gathers her into his arms and she buries her face into his shoulder, and it is not too long before he feels her tears start to seep through his suit. She mumbles against him, and he frowns and runs his hand up and down her back soothingly. "Can't hear you, Ninja."

She turns her head sideways. "You were still right," she repeated, her voice breaking. "Right to be suspicious, and right not to trust him. And Michael, and Ari, and my _abba_, oh Tony…"

He shushes her and presses a kiss into her hair. "Hey." Her tear-filled eyes meet his, and he smiles reassuringly at her. "I'm still here. Gibbs is here. McGee is here. Abby and Ducky are here, and even the Autopsy Gremlin is here."

"For how long?" she questions sadly. "How long will it take before the next person betrays me?"

"We're _never _gonna betray you."

"I am tired of trying to believe that."

He pauses. "I know what you mean," he says lowly, and wipes a tear from her face.

"You do not trust them?"

"I do. But there're a whole lotta people out there I don't trust. I get the betrayal thing."

"Then why do you trust Gibbs and McGee and the rest?"

"Cause they've always been here."

He can practically hear her thinking hard, processing what he has just said. Finally she nods. "I guess you have a point."

"Yeah." He rubs her back in circles, and she sighs.

"What do I do about Ray?"

"How sure are you that whatever Ray is doing is bad, Zi?"

She furrows her brows at him. "Very sure. You do not want to know what is in the email my contact sent me. And even if it were not bad…he lied to me again, Tony."

"But you love him."

She stiffens. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Has to do with how far you'll go to forgive him."

Her eyes widen, as if the concept truly had not occurred to her. She looks down, a million thoughts swirling about in her mind. "I – I do not think I am willing to go that far."

"Then break things off with him," he says, and if at all possible she stiffens more.

She slowly disentangles herself from him, watching him warily; she takes a step back but clings on to his hand, looking as if she does not know whether to further the distance or increase the proximity. She settles for tightening her grip around his hand.

"Tony…"

"What?" he asks, confounded.

"I have something to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Ray gave me an engagement ring box," she admits tiredly.

It is his turn to freeze; his turn to feel as if his insides have been ripped out and fed to caged tigers in front of him. He jerks his hand hard and it slips out of her grasp, and he pretends he does not see the hurt look on her face. "Congratulations." His tone is cold. He spins on his heels.

And yet is unable to walk away.

Since when had he lost that ability?

He grits his teeth and turns back, shooting her a smile that feels laced with bitterness. "So when's the big day? Do I get an invite?"

"It was empty." Since when had she looked so tiny and fragile?

"What was?"

"The ring box."

"Huh. And you said 'yes' despite the absence of a ring? Or was it _because of_ the absence of a ring? Maybe you're one of those girls who-"

"I did not say 'yes'."

"Waiting for that ring?"

"He said it was a promise of a proposal."

"Waiting for him to come to his senses and ask properly?"

She hesitates. "Not anymore."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I…I wanted your advice."

"On what? Whether you should still wait?"

"On where I go from here."

"What do you mean? You gonna go to Israel and hunt him down with spears or something?"

"Tony!" She is frustrated. "I am asking you – I want – I had a _relationship_. I had a boyfriend, and…maybe that engagement ring box is not much to you, but it was to me!"

"And?" he asks evenly. Why is she trying so hard to rub it in his face?

"And now…I do not even have a promise. I do not know what I have anymore."

The men's room echoes with the sound of a dripping tap.

"What makes you think I can tell you where to go from here?" he finally asks.

"You have just always had my back," she whispers softly, miserably. _Brokenly._

If he listens closely enough, he can hear his heart break along with the steady dripping of water.

He pulls her into his arms again. "I'll always be here," he promises her fiercely, and another tear forms in the corner of her eye. He brushes it away with his thumb. "As for where you go from here…maybe a break would be good."

"Yes?"

"Yeah. Be good to give yourself some time to get over him."

"And then what?"

"And then…" He gazes down at her. She is so _delicate_. Not physically, but emotionally. So very vulnerable that all he wants to do is protect her for the rest of his life. "Then we'll see. But you'll find your guy. I just know that."

She smiles slightly. "How do you know?"

"DiNozzo Gut Feeling," he replies, his lips twitching; she rolls her eyes. "Not quite as good as the Gibbs one, but good enough that it can get accurate readings on all of Ziva David's boyfriends."

Her smile fades a little.

"Sorry. Wasn't thinking when I said that." He grimaces. "I think the urge to pee is coming back."

She laughs and steps out of his embrace again. "Go…pee."

"Thanks." He prepares to walk past her, but stops and gazes at her. "Zi."

"Yes, Tony?"

He leans forward and kisses her cheek. "You know, someday some lucky guy is going to give you more than a promise."


End file.
